- Yakubu Dogara says it is injustice for Nigerians to pay more as tariff for darkness

- Dogara laments that Nigerians are now burdened by the constant increment in the tariff

- He emphasises the need to look again at the tariff

Yakubu Dogara, the speaker of the House of Representatives, on Monday, July 31, declared that it is injustice for residents to experience frequent hike in electricity tariff when they do not enjoy constant power supply.

Dogara said it was lamentable that Nigerians are now accustomed to living without regular power supply even though N123 billion had been injected into the power sector as bailout by the federal government.

The Punch reports that speaking at a public hearing on the need to interface with the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) and other stakeholders to re-assess all inputs and assumptions in the multi-year tariff-order, Dogara said Nigerians are now burdened with paying for supply that never got to them.

“There has been a prolonged public outcry over the continuous increase in the unit price of electricity, which many believe is not in tandem with the current realities in electricity supply.

“The tariff has continued to increase from an average of N10 per kw/h in 2007 to an average of N24.20 kw/h in 2017 without substantial improvement in power supply.

“Despite, the N123 billion 'Nigerian Electricity Market Stabilisation Fund' provided by the federal government as subsidy to the sector operators, the situation remains unpleasant.

“The House is concerned about the seeming injustice to the Nigerian public and wishes to examine the possibility of redressing the trend,” Dogara said.

The speaker added: “It is needless to say that adequate electricity supply in our country will stimulate economic activities and reduce unemployment, which will invariably ameliorate youth restiveness and the high crime rate.

“As stakeholders, we must all join hands to find a lasting solution the challenge of unstable electricity supply in the country, and in particular, the issue of excessive electricity tariff that seems to be incongruous with the quality and quantity of electricity supplied.”

Professor James Momoh, NERC’s chairman, said that all needed calculations on electricity tariff will be done only by the commission so as to ascertain the proper amounts to be paid by consumer throughout the country the Punch reports.